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The body of Murry Foust, a transgender student at Northern Kentucky University, has been located by an independently organized search party, police announced Sunday evening.
According to a press release from the Covington Police Department, Foust was located near 1 Steel Plant Road in an industrial area of Wilder, Kentucky across the Licking River from the Latonia neighborhood of Covington, where the 22-year-old was last seen on April 27. Authorities say there are “currently no indications of foul play,” and that an official cause of death will be released in the coroner’s report.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the Foust family and their loved ones during this incredibly difficult time,” Captain Justin Bradbury, investigations bureau commander and public information officer for the CPD, wrote in the release. “While we are saddened by this loss, we hope this development can provide the family with some answers and a measure of closure.”
The update follows an intensive, weeks-long search for the missing student, whom friends noted was a transgender man early in his transition. He was last seen walking in the city’s Latonia neighborhood wearing a yellow backpack, but he had left his phone at home and his car was found a block away from his apartment. Investigators deployed an array of methods including drone searches, K9 units, and water rescue teams. Foust’s family kept the public updated on the extent of the search via a Facebook group, but as the CPD’s press release notes, they have now asked “that the media respect their privacy as they grieve.”
Foust was a senior who would have graduated on the weekend of May 8. He has a fine arts major in NKU’s College of Arts and Sciences. His artwork was scheduled to be shown May 29 at a queer edition of the Cincinnati Art Museum’s “Art After Dark” series. It is not clear at this time whether those plans will continue.
In a statement obtained by WCPO, NKU spokesperson Corey Best said, “Our thoughts are with [Foust’s] family, friends and all who knew them. This is a profound loss for our campus community.”
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Foust’s cause and manner of death have not yet been determined, but we would like to provide the following notice while that information is pending:
If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit 988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services. Trans Lifeline, designed for transgender or gender-nonconforming people, can be reached at (877) 565-8860. The lifeline also provides resources to help with other crises, such as domestic violence situations. The Trevor Project Lifeline, for LGBTQ+ youth (ages 24 and younger), can be reached at (866) 488-7386. Users can also access chat services at TheTrevorProject.org/Help or text START to 678678.
